India, Jan. 13 -- The BMC is expected to hugely surpass its 2017 civic election spend of Rs.130 crore by more than 30% in the January polls. "This is on account of the increased number of polling booths and employees," said a senior BMC official. While the 2017 polls had 7,500 employees, there are over 64,375 in this election.

The civic body has also involved over 4,500 volunteers for crowd management and to help handicapped and senior citizens. Elections are being held in 2,278 locations now as against the barely 300 locations in 2017. Over 22,000 policemen are involved in the polls.

"The budget is no constraint and we have standing instructions from the commissioner to spend wherever needed," said an official. The BMC has already comp...